August 22nd

So, my present collection of projects in progress is about to dissapear. As I am going to be spening Labor Day at a secluded lake house I can't think of anything better to do than gather supplies to start a new project! For some reason I have this voice in my head telling me to make a Cable Scarf...and it is a forcefull voice!

Is this a dumb idea for a new knitter? How hard (honestly) is this endevor going to be? I really have the burning desire to try it! Does anyone have any cool basic Cable-Scarf patterns? Resources?

August 21st

This is my first post to a knitting blog, so I am excited to kick it off with a photo of a recently completed project. I have a hard time finishing what I start (a common condition among the knitters I know), so it was especially satisfying to bind off after finishing this one. There were a lot of false starts with this project, as it's a pattern of my own design and I had to start over a couple of times to figure out what I wanted to do. If anyone has some suggestions on how to better photograph knitting, please let me know. Thanks!

i'd like to learn how to make a sock. i don't know how yet and have been looking over patterns and everything seems to be tailored for men with dinky little feets. definitely am feeling a little left out since i've got honking huge big feet. anyone have any suggestions?? i almost started Jacquiline Fee's spiral socks then my friend M. took one look at the picture of 'em and said "OOOOOHH!!! how clever!!!! a dildo-cozy!!!"

August 20th

I'm working on Fetching, from the latest Knitty, and it gives me this set of directions for the thumb:"[...] there will be 7 sts below the opening and 6 sts above. Attach yarn and k the 7 sts on lower needle; using a second needle, pick up and k 2 sts in space between upper and lower needle, k first 3 sts from upper needle; using a third needle, k remaining 3 sts from upper needle and pick up and k 2 sts in space between this needle and lower needle. [...] "Can anyone make sense of that "knit in space business"? It has halted my forward momentum.

The socks I've been slowly working on are finally done! They are 100% alpaca and very cozy. I'm pretty happy with them, they look nice and fit well. The only thing I've noticed is that the second one is just slightly bigger than the first. I think my guage was a little looser on the second. Does anyone know if there is a way to safely shrink the left sock to match the right one? Again, it's pretty minor, but if it's anyone has any tips, I might try to rememdy it. Thanks everyone and take care! -Ken

August 18th

I felted my clogs last Sunday and finally got around to taking some pictures, well getting the pictures off of my digital camera that is. The sneaker shows the size difference of before and after felting.

The felting process was a breeze! Each slipper in a zippered pillowcase, threw in a couple of bath towels, a total of 16 minutes and they felted perfectly. I used Paton's Classic Wool and was very pleased with the results. They are very comfy and will be great to wear this winter during the Western New York cold weather.

This spring I finished a shawl in a cotton/silk blend; in a design based on my own 'Queen Anne's Lace' shawl. (okay - it was a "mistake" that became a "feature" - if Microsoft can do it, why not moi?)

Golden Angelica is to be raffled off on the Last day of Whitby Folk week in the UK. I just heard that it was on it's way there from London.

The raffle is a private group thing by the Friends of Mudcat Cafe- though I'm sure they will be willing to sell tickets to anyone who asks...(uk only though) Funds derived from the raffle will go to support the MudCat Cafe website.